Finns bounce back with a great victory over US

29 Dec 2011 | Lukáš Peroutka

Team Finland responded to a heavy defeat against Canada on the opening day of the tournament in a best possible fashion, by beating a strong US team 4-1. Goalkeeper Sami Aittokallio made 38 saves and contributed to a great night for the Finnish side.

Many raised their eyebrows after the first heavy defeat of Team Finland. The Scandinavian team was judged by many to be the potential surprise package of the tournament, but was completely outplayed on the opening day by a fired-up Canadian side.

This time, it was a different story. US dominated the early passages of play, though, relying on solid defense and good transitional phase. However, all their chances were stopped by Aittokallio and it took his teammate Miikka Salomäki just 81 seconds in the second period to break the deadlock after Armia found some space along the boards to set up the Finnish forward in a good position.

Team USA tried to respond with even more pressure and outshot their opponents 16-5 in the second period, but to no effect. The equalizer came shortly after the second break when Brandon Saad beat Aittokallio for the first time after 19 seconds of play. The Finns played with confidence, though, and took their chances in a best possible fashion.

Joel Armia proved to be the key player for Finland, scoring the game winning goal at 50:53 and then rounding the score at 4-1 three and a half minutes from time when Finns lead already by two goals thanks to a new star in the making, Mikael Granlund. The result proved very popular with a crowd inside Rexall Place, Edmonton as majority of the Canadian fans were cheering for the European team.

Both teams can now enjoy a day off. USA plays Czech Republic on Friday, while Finland will entertain Denmark.